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Azura R

Message to Readers

So I had this idea while listening to presentation at school. The girl on stage sneezed and everyone else stopped said, "Bless you," and moved on.
Also any feedback about how to make it flow or grammar mistakes, let me know.
Thanks!

Sneezes.

Sneezes are exclusively the only body function that requires a response from the audience around you. When one sneezes in an entire crowd of people, everyone must simultaneously cease any previous work they are doing to say, "Bless you," no matter how important the job before hand may have been. A student could be giving a speech that they have prepared weeks for. But the instant another student sneezes, the entire class will interrupt the presenter and say, "Bless you." Then just as quick the interruption came it is gone, and the class is back to the speech.We even interrupt strangers and say bless you to strangers we have not met.

But why do we do this mysterious custom? A sneeze is not like a cough where it could be deadly or a foreshadowing of later illness. We, as a culture, do not acknowledge coughs or hiccups in the same manner as we do sneezes. Some may say that the "Bless You" originated when people did think sneezes were harmful, but now is a common courtesy. I understand that it is now a tradition and probably has little to no meaning than being what our parents have taught us. But think about it.

It is such an unusual custom that we have some how accumulated it to not be weird. How strange would it be if everytime someone itched their nose (stranger or not) I would say " Praise You." I would become an outcast and abnormal.

So the next time someone sneezes, I am not asking you to not say "Bless You", but rather think about what situation did you just interrupt and how unsual it must seem to someone who does not have this custom to watch the event.